


The Grand Escape

by Fighter_at_heart



Series: Moments of Impact [3]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Medical Wing, prank
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-21
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 04:31:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3796786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fighter_at_heart/pseuds/Fighter_at_heart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a mission goes wrong, and Melinda winds up in medical, it's up to Clint Barton to break her out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Stir-Crazy

**Author's Note:**

> Please Review!

It was all Barton's fault. No one else was at fault for the fallout. Except, maybe, herself...but she was completely innocent in the whole matter. It was a simple mission, Barton's first mission. 

That's how Coulson and her ended up being the babysitters. 

The mission went south, which no one could predict, and no one was to blame for that. They needed an exit strategy, Phil turned down hers and to his credit it wasn't that great of one. She didn't fully think it through. Neither did Barton when his turn came. They had no option, they were in a time crunch and Clint came up with one of his insane idiotic ideas. 

She ended up in medical.

Stuck in medical.

They refused her release. She had to go through a process before she was allowed to release and that could take anywhere from hours to days. Possibly weeks. 

Just her luck.

One day in and she was already going stir-crazy. Clint got released within an hour of being checked in. Why she had to stay longer, she didn't know. 

But she could only imagine how he could released early.

Damn S.H.I.E.L.D doctors, and their damn rules.

She shook her head in annoyance, going back to coming up with ideas as to how to be relaxed early.

Suddenly, without warning the door opened and she perked up, every inch of her body growing with anticipation, hoping it was a doctor finalizing her release.

It wasn't. She should've figured, doctors have more manners than this man. He strolled over to the nearest seat which happened to be a few feet from her bedside, and collapsed into it. His legs kicked up onto her bedside as his body sunk into the seat, finding comfort in the most uncomfortable seat S.H.I.E.L.D had to offer.

She pushed herself to a sitting position, and turned to the intruder. His lack of manners was no surprise. "Ever heard of knocking?"

"Yes; do it, no." In the few seconds he'd been there he'd already made himself comfortable, it was unbelievable, yet so predictable. She had an inkling of an idea as to why he was here. And if she was right, she would kick his ass. 

She tilted her down, narrowing her eyes as her lips curled upwards. "How'd you get past the nurses? You were cleared hours ago."

"A very nice lady let me through." His usual self-satisfied grin never left his face.

"Flirt."

"I told her I forgot something when I was released." He shrugged acting like it was no big deal. 

May snorted. "She believed you?" The doubt in her voice wasn't missed by either one of them. 

"Wouldn't you?" He quirked an eyebrow. 

In return, she shot him a disbelieving look, giving him the only answer he needed.

"I'm here to get you out of medical, if you don't believe me, I can just leave..." He left the sentence hanging. Letting her know he was not here to boast, and she wouldn't have to kick his smug ass once again. 

Not that she wouldn't do it later. 

He wasn't doing this out of guilt. If he was he would've went to Phil and asked for help, instead of gifting her with another terrible idea. Still, no matter how horrible the idea was, she wasn't about to turn down an offer to get out of this horrid place. 

She leaned over to him, a little too eager to participate. "What's your plan?" 

"I'm glad you asked, Mels." He leaned back in the chair. "All we need is a distraction for the nurses and doctors then we escape. Or we could get kicked out, but that's not nearly as fun." 

She considered the plan, or lack therefore of one. "Depending on the distraction we might just get kicked out." Her tone didn't have any reservations, she was more than willing to go along with his plan. Crazy might it be.

"So you in?" His smile was widening like he was about to win a prize and while he knew he was already the winner, he still had that twinge bit of doubt that it would be taken away.

"Better than staying here locked in this place." She shrugged it off like it was no big deal and he was nothing more than an annoying pest, and if you let it be long enough it would eventually stop bugging you.

"Okay, so here's the plan..."


	2. Two in One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson gets caught in the crosshairs of May and Barton's mischief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know anything about pranks. I've never pulled one in my life. So, sorry about my lack of creativity. 
> 
> Let me know what you think, I love feedback.

Each piece of paper underwent a process. It was copied several times before being separated into several different stacks. Then they were decorated with their individual unique personality and pressed onto the wall. 

It wasn't permanent, but the medical wing would have a fun time concocting a way to remove it without damaging their walls. It was sticky tape–left a mark–just like intended.

"Do we have enough paper?"

Melinda shrugged, "You printed it."

"Yeah, but you helped. Sort of."

May rose her eyebrows, but didn't question. She knew what he was getting at. While she couldn't leave medical without getting caught, she did help suggest what they did to leave. His plan was...faulty. It had a good start, and a great idea, it just lacked the small details. When they put their minds together, they achieved what could be one of the greatest medical escapes.

Clint glanced at her. She had stopped putting up the papers and bright yellow circles which from the quick glance he got when she flashed them at him, they looked to be stickers. Smiley face stickers. What was she doing with smiley face stickers?

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see."

The paper he held in his hand fell onto the table as he took the steps to close the gap in between them. "Mels, come on."

She turned around, a slight smirk playing on her lips. "I have work to do." Before he could open his mouth again, she spoke again as if she knew he would without having to turn around. "So do you."

His shoulders sagged in defeat and he picked the paper up again, turning on one heel and pinning it to the wall. 

||~Moments of Impact~||

It was dark. The two agents were crammed in the air duct one body in front of the other. Clint led the way, having the most experience, and May picked up the rear. 

"How do you think they're reacting?" She couldn't see Clint's face, his feet were right in her face, his ass not far behind, or in this case ahead. It depends on how you look at it.

"Why don't we go figure out? It's your plan after all." His voice was just a voice that bounced off the walls in a series of movements through the small tunnel. 

"And how do we do that?"

"Follow me, Mels." It was no small request. They were walking blind–crawling blind actually. The darkness had enveloped his body, and hers. Leaving them with nothing to follow except the echoes of their voices. Still, she followed him. 

There was no synchronization to their movements. He would stop to assess their position and she would keep moving and then they would collide. He would slow down, and she would speed up. They always collided. They couldn't communicate. 

"Where are we going?" They'd been crawling around in dirty air vents for the past five minutes and she still didn't know where they were going. She just suffered being confined for what could just be a game. 

"To one of my favorite places." Now Melinda was definitely curious. Any anger about being confined in an air vent, crawling on her stomach, her legs glued together and her arms trapped under her body disappeared. 

The pair came across a cross section. Left or right. They could go back, but as much as watching their prank unfold they couldn't do that. Their intention was to leave the hospital, not return. There was an exit straight down, but Clint jumped over the indent down and landed in the left tunnel. 

He turned around, and she could just barely make out his face with the light peeking out of the grate. "Can you make it...or do you need help?" There was no missing the grin and twinkling in his eyes. 

She sent him a glare and joined him in seconds. "Are we almost there?"

He turned around and got back to crawling. They were at their desired destination within a minute. 

"Here we are." She didn't have to see to tell he turned to face her with his grin that seemed to never fade. 

In front of them was a single grate with gaping vertical lines which allowed light to seep inside their hiding spot. Sound prickled through the grate, but not enough to fully make out the conversation. 

May scooted up beside him in an attempt to get a better hear and look on the conversation, or at least that's what she said. Clint squeezed over to give her space and soon they were pressed up together, only centimeters separating their faces from one another. It wasn't comfortable to say the least, but to see the fallout, it was worth more than any uncomfortable position. 

"You want to explain this, Agent?" It was the Commander. His voice was loud, and angry, just like expected. Across them room the figure made out was just who it was suppose to be. Coulson.

Melinda felt a little sorry for Phil. He was about to get a huge reprimanding for a prank he didn't commit, but it was too good to interfere. 

There was no mistaking the gaping look on his face. "No, sir." 

"Do you think he knows?" Melinda forced herself to peel her eyes from the scene and look at Clint. And she instantly regretted it. There was nothing separating them, no bodies, no clothing, no space. Just a centimeter of air, which, if possible, lessened when he turned his head to look at hers. 

Her lips parted, her eyes widened and her chest tightened. Her breathing stuttered, her body was raised, and their eyes locked. 

The moment ended as quickly as it came. 

"Possibly." Clint shrugged, and oxygen returned to her lungs the moment he turned back to the scene. 

||~Moments of Impact~||

Word spread fast about the prank in medical. The walls were covered with mission paperwork craftily decorated. Stickers were strategically placed over the cameras to avoid detection and when they attempted playback their screens were plastered with a smiley face. Everyone wondered who did such a thing, but the name was written on each page of paperwork, hand signed and dated. 

Phil Coulson.

As far as everyone was concerned–no one may believe it, but–Coulson just posted his paperwork colored in an array of colors across the medical wing. 

They just pulled a prank within a prank.


End file.
